Bit Of Help & Advice

[Urban mammoth]

Hi,

I am looking to buy a car.

I have a budget of £4000.

I would preferably like 5 doors.

Don't mind about petrol or diesel.

Would preferably like a slightly bigger car than the corsa/saxo/fiesta/clio size.

I have looked on Auto Trader but to no avail.

Any help/advice on where to look and also what to look for (i.e makes models engine sizes etc.)

I am 21 and have had a licence from 04/2004 with no accidents etc etc.

I really have no clue as to what is good/bad etc.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Dan

[minitrialer]

Any more info? Speed? Part costs? Fuel costs? Personally, becuase I am a bit of an old man when it comes to things like this, I would get a nice VW Passatt or Audi A4, or even Golf, Maybe even a Golf GT Tdi, so quite nippy but really good mpg. For £4000 you could get a quite nice car from the above. Or you could get a less respected but still alright brand name, like Ford, and get a lot more for your money, parts would also be cheaper. Maybe I am totally on the wrong lines. Ah well, good luck with your choice!

[Urban mammoth]

Any more info? Speed? Part costs? Fuel costs? Personally, becuase I am a bit of an old man when it comes to things like this, I would get a nice VW Passatt or Audi A4, or even Golf, Maybe even a Golf GT Tdi, so quite nippy but really good mpg. For £4000 you could get a quite nice car from the above. Or you could get a less respected but still alright brand name, like Ford, and get a lot more for your money, parts would also be cheaper. Maybe I am totally on the wrong lines. Ah well, good luck with your choice!

hmmm i don't want a saloon.

I was thinking along the lines of golf, A3, fabia, 307, 207, astra, focus etc etc etc

Just not sure about which though!

Could 4K get me a nice(ish) car?

[BONGO]

ford focus i'd reccomend. I've had one, i sold it, i set out to get another. Ended up getting a mondeo, but the focus's are awesome cars. Reliable, cheap to run and insure, comfy, nice looking, big enough for 4 bikes and 4 people with only front wheels off, and rarely go wrong.

I had a 1.6 Zetec petrol, which i loved. My cousin has a 2.0 TDCi which is even better.

You will no doubt get the ford haters saying that they are poo, but it's simply not true. You'll get a nice 2002-2004 one for 4k too

Bongo

Edit: looking on the trader now, there are somehting like 43000 for sale in the uk lol. Not because they're rubbish, but just becasue there are that many, because they're good lol. It's a buyers market with these, take your pick. If you go for Diesel, for that price, you can expect a 5 year old car with 70k on the clock upwards. Now, the engine has no problem with that. 70K is no problem in a focus diesel. The rest of the car however has also done 70k, so if you go for a car like this, look for receipts, service history, MOT's that tally up with consistent mileage increases. See what's been replaced, find out when things need replacing and haggle like a mo fo.

Buying with miles on the clock can be a great money saver if you do it right. I just got my modeo with 63k on it, but i got a comprehensive 12 month parts and labour warrenty from any uk ford dealer included, i got a full service including belts (the belts didn't need replacing however becasue they're actually chain driven on this and are good till 130k or something daft) Do your homework and it'll pay off.

[minitrialer]

Actually I didn't even reccommend the car that I have! I actually have Ford Focus td di estate. Fairly high mileage, an obviuosly doesn't sound like you want an estate, but yer, done a fair few miles in since I've had it, can't fault it! ( I did say I'm like an old man!)

[hI-OOPS-CAPS]

id say honda, you could get a decent honda jazz or civic for that much.

theyre packed with kit. for example a certain model of the jazz has climate control. thats years ahead of is rivals.

you know itll never fail to run too